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Online Messages System

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Anoop Singh edited this page Nov 1, 2025 · 5 revisions

Online Messages System

Introduced in Better Lib v1.0.102+

The Online Messages System allows mod developers to display dynamic messages and clickable links to players when they join a world or server. Messages are fetched from a remote text file (e.g., GitHub, Pastebin, or your website) and can be updated anytime without requiring users to download a new mod version.

This system can also be used to push update notifications, letting players know when a new mod version or important announcement is available instantly, and without any manual updates.

Overview

Feature Description
Multi-line text Display multiple lines of messages with custom colors
Clickable links Add clickable links with custom labels and colors
Auto-refresh Players only see new messages when content changes
Refetchable Mods can manually refresh messages in-game
Color support Supports #RRGGBB hex colors for each line or link
Modular Works per mod — each mod registers its own message set
Built into Better Lib No extra setup needed beyond registration

🧰 File Structure

Each participating mod must define two remote text files (they can be hosted anywhere publicly):

File Purpose
message.txt Contains multi-line plain text messages.
links.txt Contains clickable link entries (label + URL + color + optional description).

🧾 File Format Examples

📄 message.txt 

Welcome to Create: Better lib!
Thank you for supporting the project ❤️
Follow us for updates and sneak peeks!
# Lines starting with '#' are ignored

🔗 links.txt 

CurseForge|https://curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/create-better-villager|#00AAFF|View mod page
Modrinth|https://modrinth.com/mod/create-better-villager|#00FF88|Download now
Discord|https://discord.gg/example|#7289DA|Join our community
Patreon|https://patreon.com/example|#FFD700|Support development

Format (per line):

Label|URL|ColorHex|Description
  • Label → Text shown to the player
  • URL → Clickable destination
  • ColorHex → Optional color in #RRGGBB
  • Description → Optional text shown after the link

⚙️ Mod Integration

1️⃣ Implement OnlineMessagePlugin

Each mod must implement this interface to define message sources.

package com.example.mycoolmod;

import com.reggarf.mods.better_lib.message.api.OnlineMessagePlugin;

public class MyModOnlineMessages implements OnlineMessagePlugin {
    @Override
    public String getModId() {
        return "mycoolmod";
    }

    @Override
    public String getMessageUrl() {
        return "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Reggarfgod/World_First_Join_Message/refs/heads/CC/1.21.1/forge/messages.txt";
    }

    @Override
    public String getClickableUrl() {
        return "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Reggarfgod/World_First_Join_Message/refs/heads/CC/1.21.1/forge/FETCH_URL.txt";
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isOnlineMessageEnabled() {
        return true; // Can be toggled via config
    }
}

2️⃣ Register in Main class

Register your plugin in your mod.

 OnlineMessageLib.registerPlugin(new MyModOnlinePlugin());

🧱 How It Works

Step Description
🪶 Initialization Your mod registers an OnlineMessagePlugin during setup.
🌐 Fetch Better Lib downloads both message.txt and links.txt.
💾 Cache Data is cached in memory and saved to player NBT to prevent spam.
👋 Join Event On player join, the system checks if message hash changed.
💬 Display Messages and links are shown once when new or updated.

🎨 Message Customization

You can use hex color codes for text and links:

  • #FF0000 → Red
  • #00FF00 → Green
  • #00AAFF → Cyan
  • #FFD700 → Gold

If omitted, defaults to white (#FFFFFF for text, #00FF00 for links).

🧩 Hover Tooltips (Coming Soon)

In future versions, you’ll be able to define hover tooltips in the links.txt format, e.g.:

Label|URL|ColorHex|Description|Hover:Click to open this link

Better Lib will automatically show “Click to open this link” when hovering over the label.

🧪 Example Output (In-Game)

Welcome to Create: Better Villager!
Thank you for supporting the project ❤️
 - CurseForge [Clickable in blue]
 - Modrinth [Clickable in green]
 - Discord [Clickable in purple]

Each link opens in the player’s web browser.

⚠️ Notes & Tips

  • The system only fetches text; no JSON or HTML parsing is required.
  • Player data is stored in persistent NBT (lastSeenMessage_modid).
  • Supports Forge and NeoForge 1.20+.
  • HTTP errors are safely logged but won’t crash the game.
  • Remote text files can be hosted on GitHub, Pastebin (raw), or any static file host.

💡 Recommended Hosting Setup

Hosting Example Raw URL
GitHub https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YourName/messages/main/message.txt
Pastebin https://pastebin.com/raw/abc123
GitLab https://gitlab.com/YourName/messages/-/raw/main/message.txt

🧱 Developer Reference

Class Purpose
WFJMOnlineMessageHandler Core handler for message registration and display.
WFJMOnlineMessageFetcher Fetches text from remote URLs.
OnlineMessageSet Holds messages and clickable components.
OnlineMessagePlugin Interface implemented by mods to define sources.

🏁 Example Mods Using It

🧩 Summary

Action Method
Register plugin WFJMOnlineMessageHandler.initializeFor(modId, plugin)
Refetch messages WFJMOnlineMessageHandler.refreshMessages(modId, plugin)
Add message line OnlineMessageSet.addText(text, colorHex)
Add clickable link OnlineMessageSet.addLink(label, url, colorHex, description)
Send to player set.sendTo(player)

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